With the summer transfer window now well underway, players across the world are dreaming about securing lucrative moves to other clubs.
These will be life-changing transfers for many players – offering them the chance to set themselves up for life by signing a lucrative contract.
Others will be eager to join a club that will give them the opportunity to win major silverware or boost their hopes of playing international football.
However, one of the key elements of any transfer move is there needs to be a selling club and a buying club – and the former are often reluctant to part ways with their top assets.
With that in mind, we look at some of the players who used questionable tactics to force through a move and others who failed to get what they wanted.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Having established himself as a Man United legend during his first spell at Old Trafford, Ronaldo went the extra mile to tarnish his legacy after returning to the club in 2021.
He failed to report for pre-season training on time the following summer and then skipped United’s pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. He was still welcomed back into the fold.
However, his refusal to come off the bench against Tottenham Hotspur and an explosive interview with Piers Morgan forced United into releasing him.
His apparent desire to play Champions League football counted for little when Saudi Arabia offered him mind-boggling amounts of money to move to the Middle East.
Ronaldo also fought to leave United in 2008 – calling himself a ‘slave’ as the club refused to sell him to Real Madrid. Despite this, Sir Alex Ferguson reintegrated him into the side for one more season.
The Portuguese star led the club to their third Premier League title in a row and their second consecutive Champions League final – which they lost to Barcelona.
Ronaldo immediately announced after the final that he was leaving, and United did not stand in his way.
Pierre van Hooijdonk
Van Hooijdonk’s antics in trying to force a move away from Nottingham Forest in 1998 drew criticism from the club, its fans and the wider football community.
He had previous form having rejected a £7,000 a week wage rise at Celtic because it might be ‘good enough for the homeless’ to live on ‘but not for an international striker’.
The Dutchman famously went on strike at Forest to try and force through a move to PSV Eindhoven in 1998 and hit out at the £10 million price tag they put on his head.
Van Hooijdonk eventually returned to Forest partway through the season, but contributed little as they were relegated. He subsequently signed for Vitesse Arnhem.
Dimitar Berbatov
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has a reputation for driving a hard bargain when it comes to selling players, but he met his match in Berbatov.
With Sir Alex Ferguson making it clear in the media he wanted to take Berbatov to Manchester United in 2008, the writing was on the wall from the outset.
Berbatov soon became ‘uninterested’ on the training ground and subsequently refused to play for Tottenham against Sunderland and Chelsea.
Manchester City entered the race to sign him, but United got their man with minutes to spare on deadline day – Levy still harbours a grudge towards both clubs today.
Lisandro Martinez
While Ronaldo was doing his best to force his way out of Old Trafford last summer, Martinez was cracking up the pressure on Ajax to let him join United.
Martinez reportedly squared up to technical director Gerry Hamstra and delivered an expletive-laden rant that left him in no doubt about what he wanted.
The Argentine defender was subsequently excluded from training by Ajax, although some media outlets claimed he was absent without leave.
He eventually got his move to United and has since demonstrated why they were so eager to sign him with a series of dazzling performances.
Dimitri Payet
Payet’s performances in the Premier League and at the 2016 European Championship earned him a new £100,000 a week contract at West Ham United.
That wasn’t enough to keep the French playmaker happy, with the lure of returning to Marseille proving too difficult to resist.
Payet downed tools informing the club that he would ‘never kick a ball again for West Ham’ to leave manager Slaven Bilic tearing his hair out.
He insisted the club would not sell Payet, but Marseille upped their bid to £25 million and the sulky Frenchman was granted his move.
Harry Kane
There was a time when Kane could do no wrong in the eyes of Tottenham fans, but his antics in the summer of 2021 undoubtedly damaged his reputation.
Man City went public with their interest in the England captain and he was keen to head north to boost his chances of finally winning major silverware.
Levy had reportedly told Kane he could leave that summer but subsequently backtracked by insisting the striker was not for sale.
Kane failed to turn up for training for a few days in an attempt to force a move through and his dismal early season form smacked of a man whose head had been turned.
Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling did little to endear himself to Liverpool fans when he forced through a move to Man City in 2015.
With the club stalling on a new contract for the forward, his agent Aidy Ward announced his client wouldn’t sign a deal for ‘£900,000-a-week’.
They subsequently rejected two bids from Man City, after which Sterling declared he was ‘too ill’ to go on their pre-season tour of Asia.
Despite no one believing his story, Sterling eventually joined City for £49 million – making him the most expensive English player ever at the time.
George Best
Best was undoubtedly one of the greatest players ever to represent Man United – he was also a man who suffered badly from alcoholism.
His time at Old Trafford ended acrimoniously after he was dropped by manager Tommy Docherty following a three-day bender in his own nightclub in 1974.
The mercurial Northern Irishman refused to play for the club again and was eventually released from his contract later the same year.
He subsequently played for several clubs around the world including the Los Angeles Aztecs before finally hanging up his boots in 1983.
Peter Odemwingie
Deadline day in the winter of 2013 was a day that will live long in the memory of anyone who watched events unfold on Sky Sports News.
New Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp was eager to strengthen his squad with the club marooned at the bottom of the Premier League.
QPR were linked with a move for West Bromwich Albion striker Peter Odemwingie, who had been outspoken on social media about his desire to leave the Midlands club.
The clubs were unable to agree a deal, but that did not stop Odemwingie from pitching up at Loftus Road. The move failed to materialise and he returned to WBA before leaving in the summer.
